Located in a historic industrial area of East Birmingham, Digbeth. The site is commonly known as Warwick Bar and within the Warwick Bar conservation area home to numerous locally and nationally listed buildings.
The site is brownfield land with a total area of 3.4 acres (1.38 hectares). The site borders wateron three of the four sides; Fazeley Street to the south, the Grand Union Canal to the North, the River Rae to the East and the Digbeth Branch Canal to the West.
The Existing Site
The existing site contains a number of listed buildings which have to be respected and carefully considered as to what we can do with them. Currently the North West side of the site contains 122 Fazeley Street, 106-110 Fazeley Street and the Banana Warehouse which is the only building that has direct canal frontage with good space that can be utilised. Currently there is no green space as its previous use was industrial and therefore the site is overlaid with concrete for ease of use. The South East side is predominantly buildings, including the Warwick Warehouse to 158 Fazeley Street which consists of industrial units.
Aerial view of current site at Fazeley St
Connectivity
The site has good connectivity to the rest of the city with good bus links through Digbeth, but also with the planned extension of the tram. The site is also in proximity to very good amenities with the Bullring being very close by. HS2 is going to be 0.3 miles, 7-minute walk away from the site. HS2 will provide a gateway to Birmingham. Meaning 300,000 people a day, around 100 million people a year are going to be only a 7-minute walk from Canalside.
Proposed Scheme
Our proposal involves a phased development. This is due to the short-term leases that are still left to run on the side which is to be phase 2. We feel this is very appropriate as it allows concentration on the development of part of the site before the other. Development of the entire site at the same time is very difficult to achieve especially in an area such as Digbeth where transportation of locally sourced materials already puts strains on the infrastructure in the area.
Proposed Vision
Phase 1; Involves the constructing and fit out of our container idea. We have taken this idea from box park in Shoreditch in order to provide a sustainable and less expensive approach to the construction of new buildings on the site. In total we are using 20 containers; 14 of which are being used to construct a retail building (darker building to East of the site) and the other 6 are being attached to the East side of the Warwick Warehouse and will also be used as retail in the form of local cafes and food stores; we are trying to promote local start-up businesses. 122 Fazeley Street is to have an extension and turned into an English language school. 106-110 Fazeley Street is going to be an art gallery without change due to its listing. The Banana warehouse’s water front location is ideal for having a restaurant/bar inside and with decking on to the canal. We are promoting green space in the area by having a large open central area with feature in the centre to promote a sense of place on the site.
Phase 1 Aerial View
Phase 2; Involves the fit out of the residential part of this development in the Warwick warehouse, where there is to be 50 flats of which 36% (18) are to be affordable in accordance with policy TP31 ‘affordable housing’. The addition of photovoltaic solar panels to the roof of the Warwick warehouse will also help contribute to the consumption of energy from the site. Phase 2 also involves the demolition of all the buildings to the west of the Warwick Warehouse in order to clear space for our commercial building in the form of offices, with an area of 6,248m2. With an increasing interest in sustainability in the area this building will have a green roof to combat drainage and improve thermal performance.
Phase 2 Aerial View
We are promoting green space in the area by having a large open area with a central feature to promote a sense of place on the site.We also wanted to make the site inviting which is why we have opted for archway entrances to draw people in from Fazeley street as this is the only side that the site is accessible from. Along with the landscaping also comes the installation of our SuDS scheme (Sustainable Drainage System); we realise the site is in very close proximity to canals and rivers and therefore could be subject to flooding. We are therefore combating this threat through the use of SuDS.
Since this development is being done in phases, we can start construction of phase 1 before the existing leases of the phase 2 area have finished. Construction for phase 1 will start at the beginning of next year (2020). Phase 1 will be completed by the start of 2021. Phase 2 construction will start at the beginning of 2023 and will be completed by the start of 2024. Phase 1 therefore will be open for marketing at the beginning of 2021. This will be done through Private treaty, which is an open market sale, where the tenant approaches the vendor and negotiate a contract to which both parties sign and are then bound by. This method of sale is to be used as it is seen as the most simple and common and we want to encourage new and upcoming businesses in the retail section of the site. To do this means making starting up in the area as simple and as inviting as possible. For phase 2 we are using two different marketing methodology as part is residential and part is commercial. For the residential we are using the same private treaty as phase 1 due to also implanting 36% affordable housing. However, for the commercial we are employing an informal tender for the office sector of the development.
Timeline
Phase 1;
Phase 2;
Advertising – Pro- Active Campaign
The generation we are in currently with social media being everywhere means there is a huge potential for advertising electronically. This includes platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube adverts and linked in being the business platform. We are also including broadcasts over the radio to project knowledge of the development scheme. The site is going to be advertised pro-actively nationally and any international coverage will be re-active and via internet platforms. We understand that international interest is lacking outside of London and therefore encouragement outside of the capital is necessary. Once HS2 is in place the development will have been completed for nearly 2 years, however we will still use the station as an area for displaying the site on billboards and electronic advertisement screens around the new station. This is in order to encourage tourists just arriving in Birmingham to go and visit the site.
Target Buyers
This development being a mixed-use scheme has many different target buyers. For the cafes we are targeting what we like to call indie start up cafes; these are cafes that have their own USP away from the norm as we feel it fits with the arts culture of Digbeth. For the rest of the retail properties in this phase we would very much like to keep the businesses local from Birmingham; doing this means that the money is staying and being brought into Birmingham hopefully contributing to the uplift of the economy in Digbeth, which was one of our aims with this development.
We are also really backing the idea of an English language school in 122 Fazeley street building. This is due to the findings in our research where we found that 50,000 people in Birmingham can’t speak English. Due to the huge diversity of foreign cultures in Birmingham this number is only set to increase.
For the residential aspect of this development we have 36% affordable housing to help those struggling to get on the property ladder. The remaining 64% is priced using comparable evidence in the Birmingham surrounding area. Therefore, isn’t a target market and is to be sold on a first come first served basis.
The commercial (offices) aspect of the site is a part where we would like to broaden the boundary of the site and have businesses that aren’t just Birmingham based; we feel this will be especially good as it will bring investment into Birmingham and particularly Digbeth, an area which we feel needs external investment in order for rejuvenation.
Development Appraisal
GDV
£35,000,000.00
Site Prep and Services
£154,279.45
Construction Costs
£20,774,535.95
Professional Fees
£1,813,453.95
Total Costs
£22,742,268.49
Developers Profit
25%
£5,685,567.12
Sales Fees
1%
£227,422.68
Residual for Land
£6,344,741.70
Less Interest
5yrs @8%
1.4693
£4,318,124.59
Residual Land Value
£2,026,617.11
Data Room
Technical:
Site Size: 13700 sq m
Percentage Take up in Volume.
Residential: 50 units, Area: 3052.33, Construction Costs: £3,760,000.00, Revenue: £16,000,000.00.
External envelope of the local and national listed buildings will be maintained.
Interior walls will be added where necessary in accordance to design. Interior supports will be added to support the weight of the additional live loads to the buildings.
Unsafe materials and internal walls will be removed and replaced as well as harmful materials containing asbestos.
Containers
• Steel containers will be brought to the site, these will be stripped and refitted off site in readiness for their installations.
New Build:
Demolition of buildings will be done by hand with consideration of listed buildings on site before the renovation works of the listed buildings.
Strip foundation will be used for brick and mortar new builds and pad foundation for the large office development to support the point loads of the framed construction.
New buildings will be constructed using a range of methods including steel framing for large developments that will support the external envelope of glass and a traditional load bearing masonry construction method for smaller buildings.
Planning Documents
Birmingham city local plans were used
Birmingham Plan 2031
Birmingham City Council consulted
Structural & Environmental Surveys
Birmingham Soil Topography Surveys; help understand the soil type and conditions for buildings and idea of construction methods needed.
Local Area Design Survey: Helped to keep the design of new builds in keeping with the area.
Contaminated Land Strategy & Public Register of Contaminated Land in Birmingham (Birmingham City Council)
Legal Information
Legal requirement to have inspection for contaminated land before development commences.
Canalside 